Read Gooner Fanzine print writer Alan Alger and his regular post-match series: Three Things We Learned.

Here's Alan on a trio of topics he noticed during Arsenal's frustrating 2-2 draw at West Ham on Sunday 

Make no mistake, this is one of the worst results of the season...

I've watched West Ham week in, week out for nearly a decade in a professional capacity and the side we faced yesterday were ripe for the taking. On face value it may have looked like the first choice Hammers team that had a great run two seasons ago, but in reality they have been woeful for a while. The full backs Coufal and Cresswell had only just regained their Premier League places following an easy afternoon against shot-shy Fulham at Craven Cottage last week, and I was rubbing my hands together at the thought of Saka and Martinelli being let loose on them. We really should have gone in for the kill. Anfield was excusable, this wasn't.

Dark arts are essential, but must be used sparingly...

I'm all for dark arts, or to give it a less formal name 'sh*thousery', but there's a time and a place. I think we unnecessarily riled up a very quiet London Stadium with the niggling fouls, failing to give the ball back, not retreating 10 yards and a couple of incidents of feigning injury - all building up to Jesus laying on the floor pretending to be injured ahead of their equaliser. West Ham came into the remaining 80 minutes of the match without any confidence or a crowd - and I think we handed them both things on a plate and said 'try again'. They didn't need to be asked twice...

We can't ignore the 1988/89 parallels...but it was worse...

In the 18 games before hosting Arsenal in that magical final game in May '89 Liverpool had plundered 48 points from a possible 54. In the same period of matches we took just 33 out of 54. Liverpool were the powerhouse of English football, and in a much more refined way than megabucks City. There's no way back under the radar for our title contention, but City are back to being very strong favourites and pressure on us has eased ahead of our trip to the Etihad. People will be writing us off all the way up to kick-off in Manchester, and that might just suit us for a one-off game where this similarly young and hungry squad can shine.